Miniature toggle switches of the prior art have been provided with base portions of insulating material and either metal or plastic bushing portions mechanically attached or otherwise mounted to the plastic base. Such switches generally have an elongated toggle actuator of conventional configuration. That is, the toggle extends well beyond the bushing and is provided with a generally spherical shoulder portion inside the bushing the cooperates with an inside flange on the bushing itself. A spring loaded plunger or the like is provided on the inner end of the toggle to exert a downward force on the movable contact lever in the switch case. Thus, the toggle itself is spring loaded upwardly so that the spherical shoulder engages the flange inside of the bushing and the spring loaded plunger provides a lost motion connection between the toggle and the movable contact inside the switch.
In order to provide a rocker style actuator on such switches or in order to provide any type of actuator other than a toggle, the prior art teaches that a plastic mounting bracket or a metal mounting bracket be provided in addition to the switch case cover, which bracket defines upstanding ears having aligned openings in the ears for receiving projections in the actuator in order to provide adequate support for the actuator separate and apart from the toggle itself. Such a construction has proven very expensive to fabricate and assemble and as a result other improvements have been suggested. One such improvement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,386 issued to assignee herein.
This patent provides a convenient snap-on actuator for a miniature toggle switch of otherwise standard configuration wherein no additional mounting means is necessary for pivotally supporting the actuator and wherein the actuator is prevented from rotating relative to the switch case by providing flats on the upstanding boss or bushing and cooperating inwardly facing skirt side walls on the rocker actuator. However this patent also suggests that the actuator be provided with integrally molded guide surfaces that cooperate with the top of the bushing itself in order to prevent the toggle from being moved out of its pivot position as a result of excessive forces on the rocker actuator during switching.
The present invention provides many of the same advantages achieved in the above mentioned prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,386, and in addition provides for a more secure connection between the rocker actuator and the toggle, all without resort to prior art pivot brackets and the like and/or to the prior art pin connections sometimes provided between the boss and the spherical shoulder portion of the actuator to restrict movement of the toggle to its intended pivotal motion.
Toggle switches of the miniature type when equipped with a rocker actuator can be expected to suffer from a disadvantage in that the toggle is free to move axially of its length as a result of the lost motion connection provided by the conventional spring and plunger mechanism inside the switch or other equivalent lost motion connections. Prior art miniature toggle switches generally resort to pinning of the toggle to the boss of the switch case, or resort to the expensive brackets sometimes provided for in such switches to independently support the rocker, or to the solution suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,386.